<p>I was waitlisted last year and am applying to Andover this year. I chose the first prompt and wrote about something I was sure about before but am not anymore as my long essay for last year. This year, I'm planning on choosing the same prompt as it appeals to me the most but about a different topic. Would anyone be willing to look over my essay and give me some suggestions?</p>
<p>I’m not very experienced in writing admission essays but I’m more than willing to offer you some suggestions :D.</p>
<p>I am an experienced writer, and i’m sure I can look it over and send you some feedback</p>
<p>I can help you.</p>
<p>My son spent a lot of time preparing for the admissions essays last year. Through his experience (and by extension, mine), he/we gained a lot of experience of what constitutes a great admissions essay vs. say, a great History essay. To this day, I feel that his essays contributed greatly to his admissions outcomes. Here’s what I’ve learned last year about admissions essays:</p>
<p>There are typically 3 types of prompts: The “Tell Us About Yourself” Essay, the “Why Us” Essay and the “Be Creative” Essay. </p>
<p>Some Dos:
•Brainstorm about your personal qualities that you want to convey; illustrate what makes you special.
•Outline and draft your essay. Be sure to show by example, not just tell.
•Set the essay aside for a couple of days, then revise it. Repeat as often as needed, then, share it with others.
•Ask a teacher or counselor, someone who may be familiar with school admissions, to critique and comment on it as well. Nothing wrong with getting feedback from friends and peers but keep in mind, the reader must understand that this isn’t typical school essay. It is a way to personalize your application and give it life.</p>
<p>Some Dont’s:
•Don’t write an essay that any one of a thousand applicants could write, because chances are, they probably will.
•Avoid writing an essay that will embarrass the reader. While you definitely must risk something personally in order to write an effective essay, the risk should not place a burden on the reader.
•Don’t try to sell yourself. Rather than persuading the BS that you are great, just show them who you are, what you care about, what the pivotal points in you life have been so far.
•Don’t try to write an “important” essay. A definitive statement on Middle East relations or the role of Climate Change legislation tends to come cross as pompous, showy.
•Don’t set out to write the perfect essay, the one with huge impact, the one that will blow the doors of the BS open for you. Think instead of giving the reader a sample of yourself, a slice of the real you, a snapshot of your personality and character in words.</p>
<p>Hope this helps…Best of luck to you in your Andover application!!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies, everyone. I’ll be sure to contact you guys when my first draft is finished. :)</p>
<p>Should I have started on my essays? Wow, this forum makes me feel really behind and underqualified ;)</p>
<p>When my daughter was applying to boarding schools, and had to write the many required essays, I found this for her. I think it is excellent advice:</p>
<h2>WRITING THE ESSAY: SOUND ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT</h2>
<p>Fast Food. That’s what I think of when I try to draw an analogy with the process of reading application essays.</p>
<p>The bad. Ninety percent of the applications I read contain what I call McEssays - usually five-paragraph essays that consist primarily of abstractions and unsupported generalization. They are technically correct in that they are organized and have the correct sentence structure and spelling, but they are boring. Sort of like a Big Mac. I have nothing against Big Macs, but the one I eat in Charlottesville is not going to be fundamentally different from the one I eat in Paris, Peoria or Palm Springs. I am not going to rage about the quality of a particular Big Mac. The same can be said about the generic essay. If an essay starts out: “I have been a member of the band and it has taught me leadership, perseverance and hard work,” I can almost recite the rest of the essay without reading it. Each of the three middle paragraphs gives a bit of support to an abstraction, and the final paragraph restates what has already been said. A McEssay is not wrong, but it is not going to be a positive factor in the admission decision. It will not allow a student to stand out.</p>
<p>A student who uses vague abstractions poured into a preset form will end up being interpreted as a vague series of abstractions. A student who uses clich</p>
1 Like
<p>@Blue Raven: Do NOT save all of your essays until Christmas vacation. Trust me, you and your family will be miserable. You might still get great acceptances, but it will be very stressful.</p>
<p>@checkwriter: Thanks for that very useful essay. It is particularly interesting in that some of the “show, not tell” skills are being taught at our daughter’s boarding school now…teaching them to be much better writers!</p>
<p>Brooklyn Guy- You’re a mind reader. I was planning to do exactly that. I always seem to do all my writing at the last minute but I shall take your advice and start soon. I’m sure my parents will thank you!</p>
<p>yeah I totally would! if you would look over mine too! just be careful about sending it around cuz people might want to steal it. but yeah I actually wrote about the same prompt so we could rpobably help each other more cuz I am not really sure if mine answers the prompt in the way they are looking for. here is my email.</p>
<p><a href="mailto:im.96@hotmail.fr">im.96@hotmail.fr</a></p>
<p>I have no idea what to write for the long Andover essay that you have options for. I have finished all my other essay, but cant think of a topic to write about for Andover. Have you guys done yours yet?</p>
<p>I know, it has been three years but did you get in? If yes, how did you get in? What did you have to do? What are the requirements? And what more can I do to get in? I really want to.</p>
<p>There is no magic bullet. Andover is EXTREMELY hard to get into.</p>
<p>I would be glad to look over it.</p>
<p>I’m applying to Andover and Taft as a safety school. I got in the 98th percentile on the ssat, and the next big thing is the essay. I was wondering if I could take advantage of the generous proofreaders that posted earlier.</p>
1 Like
<p>Taft has a 20% acceptance rate. But I would be more than thrilled if it turned out to be a “safety school.” :-)</p>
<p>Also, the Taft honor code requires that you neither give nor receive aid on any assignment, including that essay you’re working on.</p>
<p>I have a question about Andover Essays: If I were to choose the Children’s Story option, what age group should we be directing it at?</p>
<p>MissMimi: I didn’t choose that option, but I would guess school-aged (not beyond elementary grades) children.</p>